UQ Nursing students roll up their sleeves in Cambodian health clinics

Fifteen University of Queensland nursing and midwifery students have put their skills into practice in Cambodian health clinics during a four-week placement in the country’s northwest.

UQ School of Nursing and Midwifery head Professor Catherine Turner said the International Community Health Placement program, open to second- and third-year nursing and midwifery students, gave participants credit toward their Bachelor degrees.
“Our undergraduate programs are distinctive in that we provide students with academic learning balanced with an equal component of hands-on clinical experience,” Professor Turner said, adding that the program gave students insight into international health practices and provided opportunities to assist in clinical practice environments.
UQ School of Nursing and Midwifery student Lucy Finlay, said the Cambodia trip had been a wonderful experience.
“It really opened my eyes to see how lucky we are in Australia,” Lucy said. “One definite highlight was assisting in the delivery of two babies. Both births went really well. The Cambodian midwives do so much with so little.
“It’s different to Australian hospitals where more resources are available for mothers and babies during the birth process.”
The group spent time at a Military Handicap Development Centre, a community centre and a community clinic near Angkor Wat temple.
This is the fourth year the University of Queensland has run the program.
Many of the students had not travelled outside Australia before.
Staff and students raised more than $8,000 before the trip to donate to communities they visited.
The money helped buy medicines, a birthing bed, a sterilizer and a computer, along with more than 50 kits of blankets, sleeping mats, clothes, mosquito nets, tooth brushes and soap for needy families, and contributed toward construction of a toilet block at a secondary school.

UQ Nursing School

The University of Queensland School of Nursing and Midwifery offers the Bachelor of Nursing and the Master of Nursing Studies.
Program: Bachelor of Nursing
Location: Brisbane, Queensland
Semester intake: February
Duration: 3 years (Accelerated option: 2.5 years)
Application deadline: Nov. 15, 2014
Entry Requirements: Eligible applicants into the UQ Bachelor of Nursing program must have completed a high school diploma with a minimum GPA of 70% in the best six university courses. If you have completed post-secondary studies at the college and/or university level, those grades will also be considered. Prerequisite courses/subjects at the Grade 12 level include Senior English and one of Biological Science, Chemistry or Physics. Applications for credit for previous studies may be submitted by any person who gains entry to the nursing program.

Apply to the Bachelor of Nursing at the UQ Nursing School!

Program: Master of Nursing Studies
Location: Brisbane, Queensland
Semester intake: February
Duration: 2 years
Application deadline: Nov. 15, 2014
Entry Requirements: Master of Nursing Studies applicants will need to have a bachelor degree, as well as meet special entry requirements as set out in the program rules covering requirements for clinical practice.

Apply to the Master of Nursing Studies at the UQ Nursing School!

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Find out more about the UQ Nursing School! If you have any questions, please contact OzTREKK’s Australian Nursing Schools Admissions Officer Rachel Brady. Email Rachel at rachel@oztrekk.com or call toll free in Canada at 1-866-698-7355.